Colo. Officer Dragged, Fatally Shoots Driver

Phil Tenser and Alan Gathright On Sep 6, 2012
Source: Story by thedenverchannel

LAKEWOOD, Colo. -- Lakewood police said an officer shot a female driver who attempted to drive off with the officer's arm pinned in the vehicle early Thursday morning.

The 40-year-old woman died later at a hospital, Lakewood Police Department spokesman Steve Hipwell said. The woman's name wasn't released pending completion of the coroner's investigation.

The officer, or agent as they're called in Lakewood, suffered minor injuries.

Lakewood Police Department spokesman Steve Davis said the incident began when an officer checked the license plate on a 2007 Suzuki shortly after 12 a.m. The officer found the plates were stolen and stopped the vehicle near Colfax Avenue and Pierce Street.

Hipwell said the officer called a second officer for back up.

Davis said officers later discovered the SUV was separately reported stolen in Denver earlier in the week.

The first officer walked up to the driver-side window and the second officer approached a male seated in the front-passenger seat.

The passenger, later identified as Bernard John Trujillo, 48, a parolee with a long arrest history, became combative and the second officer used a Taser stun gun on him, Hipwell said.

At that point, Hipwell said the woman behind the wheel began to drive away.

"The first agent’s arm was pinned inside the vehicle as the female driver attempted to drive away. The agent fired his weapon striking the female," Hipwell said.

The officer had reached into the vehicle with his left hand to shut it off, Davis clarified. He fired his weapon with his right hand.

"Something like this is obviously very traumatic for everybody, especially and including police officers," said Hipwell.

In the Thursday incident, Trujillo was arrested on suspicion of resisting an officer, obstructing police, receiving stolen property, possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana and possession of narcotics equipment. Hipwell said Trujillo was also wanted for parole violation after failing to meet with his parole officer last week.

Trujillo has a nine-page Colorado criminal history, including arrests for explosives possession, domestic violence, assault, obstructing police, auto theft, drug possession, escape, burglary and repeated parole violations, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. He uses several aliases and three different birth dates, the CBI report says.

He has served four sentences in Colorado prison on convictions for explosives possession, assault, drug possession and attempted escape, according to court records.